Kangana Ranaut’s explosive remarks on dating apps spark debate: Are they a toxic shortcut to love, or a modern necessity? A closer look at her viral comments.
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| Kangana Ranaut’s dating app criticism isn’t just personal—it reflects deeper concerns about modern intimacy, digital connection, and relationship culture. Image: CH |
MUMBAI, India — August 16, 2025:
When Bollywood actress and BJP Member of Parliament Kangana Ranaut compared dating apps to the "sewer of society," she didn't just ignite a controversy—she ignited a cultural debate. In an era where millions find love, companionship, or casual encounters with a swipe, her words strike a nerve that runs far deeper than just headline-grabbing rhetoric.
“You won't find someone like me on a dating app. You’ll find people who couldn’t do anything in life… Think about how poor your character is!” she declared, unapologetically.
Kangana’s comments raise a fundamental question: What do dating apps say about the state of human connection today? Critics may call her view elitist or outdated, but others believe she’s echoing growing anxiety over the commodification of relationships in a hyper-digital world.
Apps like Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge have revolutionized the way people connect—but have they also cheapened it? The ease of access, endless choice, and gamified structure have, according to some sociologists, led to "disposable dating," where users are more focused on quantity than quality.
Kangana's concerns—about needs-driven relationships, the erosion of romance, and transactional encounters—aren’t entirely baseless. Her critique reflects the sentiment of many who feel modern relationships lack depth, loyalty, or emotional investment.
At the same time, the digital dating ecosystem has empowered millions, especially women and marginalized communities, by giving them control over who they meet and how they engage. For many, dating apps are not a last resort, but a tool of freedom, exploration, and agency.
Ranaut’s suggestion that people only turn to dating apps because they’ve failed to find partners in schools, offices, or through family arrangements also overlooks cultural and demographic shifts—people relocate more frequently, work remotely, and marry later, often outside traditional networks.
Her endorsement of arranged marriage or workplace relationships might resonate with traditionalists, but it also raises concerns about consent, power dynamics, and evolving gender roles in a modern context.
As a BJP MP, Kangana’s remarks also seem to align with broader narratives that idealize traditional Indian values over Western influence. In this view, dating apps represent a form of moral decay or cultural infiltration—another battlefield in the ongoing tug-of-war between modernity and conservatism in Indian society.
However, critics argue that such blanket condemnations stigmatize genuine human efforts to find connection in a busy, digital-first world. Not everyone has the privilege or circumstances to meet "the right person" through family or elite social circles.
Kangana Ranaut’s harsh metaphor may offend—but it also forces an uncomfortable self-reflection. Are dating apps truly shaping a generation that treats love as disposable? Or are they simply exposing the raw realities of what people have always sought: connection, security, validation?
In the end, the answer lies not in the platforms themselves, but in how we use them—and what we seek to find in others.